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Testing for ice sheets during the mid-Cretaceous greenhouse using glassy foraminiferal calcite from the mid-Cenomanian tropics on Demerara Rise

Testing for ice sheets during the mid-Cretaceous greenhouse using glassy foraminiferal calcite from the mid-Cenomanian tropics on Demerara Rise
Testing for ice sheets during the mid-Cretaceous greenhouse using glassy foraminiferal calcite from the mid-Cenomanian tropics on Demerara Rise
The mid-Cretaceous is widely considered the archetypal ice-free greenhouse interval in Earth history, with a thermal maximum around Cenomanian-Turonian boundary time (ca. 90 Ma). However, contemporaneous glaciations have been hypothesized based on sequence stratigraphic evidence for rapid sea-level oscillation and oxygen isotope excursions in records generated from carbonates of questionable preservation and/or of low resolution. We present new oxygen isotope records for the mid-Cenomanian Demerara Rise that are of much higher resolution than previously available, taken from both planktic and benthic foraminifers, and utilizing only extremely well preserved glassy foraminifers. Our records show no evidence of glaciation, calling into question the hypothesized ice sheets and rendering the origin of inferred rapid sea-level oscillations enigmatic. Simple mass-balance calculations demonstrate that this Cretaceous sea-level paradox is unlikely to be explained by hidden ice sheets existing below the limit of ?18O detection.

Cenomanian (Cretaceous), foraminifera, stable isotopes, glaciation, sea level, tropical environment
0091-7613
615-618
Moriya, K.
133be464-0d46-47db-aef6-90f913857668
Wilson, P.A.
f940a9f0-fa5a-4a64-9061-f0794bfbf7c6
Friedrich, O.
219eb084-560e-4c36-b2f5-b33a8b582c33
Erbacher, J.
67c413f3-20bf-4182-ba4a-56e6277e74ae
Kawahata, H.
403a1eda-5940-4fde-bb78-09cefbb2613b
Moriya, K.
133be464-0d46-47db-aef6-90f913857668
Wilson, P.A.
f940a9f0-fa5a-4a64-9061-f0794bfbf7c6
Friedrich, O.
219eb084-560e-4c36-b2f5-b33a8b582c33
Erbacher, J.
67c413f3-20bf-4182-ba4a-56e6277e74ae
Kawahata, H.
403a1eda-5940-4fde-bb78-09cefbb2613b

Moriya, K., Wilson, P.A., Friedrich, O., Erbacher, J. and Kawahata, H. (2007) Testing for ice sheets during the mid-Cretaceous greenhouse using glassy foraminiferal calcite from the mid-Cenomanian tropics on Demerara Rise. Geology, 35 (7), 615-618. (doi:10.1130/G23589A.1).

Record type: Article

Abstract

The mid-Cretaceous is widely considered the archetypal ice-free greenhouse interval in Earth history, with a thermal maximum around Cenomanian-Turonian boundary time (ca. 90 Ma). However, contemporaneous glaciations have been hypothesized based on sequence stratigraphic evidence for rapid sea-level oscillation and oxygen isotope excursions in records generated from carbonates of questionable preservation and/or of low resolution. We present new oxygen isotope records for the mid-Cenomanian Demerara Rise that are of much higher resolution than previously available, taken from both planktic and benthic foraminifers, and utilizing only extremely well preserved glassy foraminifers. Our records show no evidence of glaciation, calling into question the hypothesized ice sheets and rendering the origin of inferred rapid sea-level oscillations enigmatic. Simple mass-balance calculations demonstrate that this Cretaceous sea-level paradox is unlikely to be explained by hidden ice sheets existing below the limit of ?18O detection.

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More information

Published date: July 2007
Keywords: Cenomanian (Cretaceous), foraminifera, stable isotopes, glaciation, sea level, tropical environment

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 49764
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/49764
ISSN: 0091-7613
PURE UUID: 6963b318-b97d-454b-84ee-b0c0df396b8b
ORCID for P.A. Wilson: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-6425-8906

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 29 Nov 2007
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 03:13

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Contributors

Author: K. Moriya
Author: P.A. Wilson ORCID iD
Author: O. Friedrich
Author: J. Erbacher
Author: H. Kawahata

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